Econ Papers Daily / 期刊论文
消失的边界：南斯拉夫市场起源中的族群与贸易成本
Vanishing Borders: Ethnicity and Trade Costs at the Origin of the Yugoslav Market
摘要
This article uses the creation of a paradigmatic multi-ethnic state, Yugoslavia, in 1918, and a novel large dataset of grain prices to examine the effect of ethnicity on trade costs when borders changed. Controlling for transport costs and import tariffs, we find a large but transitory border effect. Ethno-religious differences initially significantly increased price gaps, but their negative influence vanished over time as well. The decline was virtually complete about 16 years before unification and involved city-pairs divided by the border, supporting the hypothesis that Yugoslav unification nationalism fostered trust across ethno-religious networks of international traders.
中文摘要
本文以1918年建立的典型多民族国家南斯拉夫为例，并利用一个新的大型粮食价格数据集，考察边界变更时族群对贸易成本的影响。在控制运输成本和进口关税后，我们发现一个较大但暂时的边界效应。族群—宗教差异最初显著扩大了价格差距，但其负面影响也随时间推移而消失。这一下降在统一前约16年时几乎完全实现，且涉及被边界分隔的城市对，这支持了南斯拉夫统一民族主义促进了跨族群—宗教国际贸易商网络信任的假说。